Quarter by Quarter observations

First Quarter

 Westbrook has been great in defense of Jennings; Jennings has missed both shots he has taken against Westbrook. Late in the third the Thunder started switching and Jennings was able to get a little space and made a basket. The real story of the quarter is Carlos Delfino he is 5-6 including 3-3 from three for 13 of the 26 Milwaukee points. With Redd and Jennings on the floor the Thunder have been helping off Delfino and he has made them pay. The Thunder are shooting lights out right now and Durant is having no problem getting to the line. Hopefully Westbrook can keep up this defensive intensity all game with as little rest as he will get.

Score to end the Quarter 31-26 Thunder

Second Quarter

Early in the second the Bucks have taken a lead off the poor play of DJ White, Mike Wilks, and James Harden. Harden is getting careless with the ball which led to an easy steal and dunk. White can't move his feet on defense and isn't challenging the outside shooters of the Bucks' considering the biggest reason the Thunder built the lead they did was because of defense this second team really has to pick up the defensive intensity.

Green and Durant come back in and the defensive intensity picks back up. It is pretty clear the Thunder starters are better than the Bucks best five but the Thunder reserves were just not cutting it. I don't think DJ White has the quickness to stick with the smaller Bucks lineup. When Green came back in the Bucks went right back to Ilyasova who had made 3 straight uncontested shots, with Green's hand in his face he went on to miss the next two.

Score to finish the half 51-50 Thunder

Half

Kyle Weaver where are you when we need you. The Bucks are going with a small lineup and trying to take advantage of the fact the Thunder only have 3 guards, 4 if you count Wilks. DJ White struggled to challenge on the perimeter shots and the Bucks kept chipping away at the lead and eventually started to build one of their own. The Bucks made a great adjustment to the baseline drives Durant found so successful in the first quarter, Kurt Thomas got a pair of blocks on KD and shut down the baseline drive. Westbrook has rendered Jennings largely silent; Westbrook has played with great intensity and concentration so far but is expending a lot of energy on both ends of the court. Sefolosha has 3 fouls but for the life of me they have been the quietest 3 fouls I have ever seen, I had no idea he had them until I was looking at the box score. Ibaka has gone 0-4 and has been taking some really bad shots, but he has 3 rebounds in 9 minutes so it's not all bad. The Thunder just need to keep doing what they are doing and keep DJ White off the floor or light a fire under him and get him to challenge shots. The Bucks are going to try and run the Thunder into the ground with smaller lineups to take advantage to the Thunders lack of depth at guard right now. As long as the Thunder can control the pace of the game and hopefully shorten it a bit to save some energy they should be able to weather a late Bucks rally.

Third Quarter

 The Thunder held the Bucks scoreless until there was only 5:30 left in the quarter. The starters played pretty much the entire quarter, Harden and Ibaka came in with 2 minutes left in the quarter and played well keeping up the defensive intensity. There really isn't much to say about this quarter the Thunder just played solid defense and the Bucks missed contested shots. Westbrook is about 1 quarter away from turning in his first complete defensive performance of the year in my opinion. Not to say he hasn't played good defense at times this year, I just don't remember seeing him play a whole game without taking plays off when his man did not have the ball. Tonight he has risen to the challenge and played tough the entire game.

Score to finish the Quarter 78-63 Thunder

Fourth Quarter

The Thunder starters were able to extend the lead they built in the third quarter with solid defense and efficient offense. Westbrook was able to get to the lane seemingly at will and converted enough free throws to put the game away.

Score to finish the Game 108-94 Magic

The Good and The Bad individually

The Good

Russell Westbrook

Coming into this game the question was would Westbrook be able to contain Jennings. Westbrook answered that question by playing the most complete mistake free defensive game he has all season. Jennings did not score while Westbrook was guarding him, it was only later in the game when the Thunder switched and went to almost a zone defense that he was able to get a couple of baskets. Westbrook also took control of the game late by driving the lane and getting easy shots and fouls. 20 points on 6-15, 7 assists, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks, and only 2 turnovers this was a complete effort that was everything the Thunder hope Westbrook will be.

Kevin Durant

+31 according to NBA.com's plus/minus. 33 points on 10-21 shooting and 12-14 from the line, 12 rebounds, and 5 assists Durant took the ball early and often and put up points. The defensive intensity Durant brought to the court got the Thunder going and kept the Bucks off balance the entire game.

The Bad

When the Thunder starters left the game in the second quarter they had a 5 point lead and the Bucks were gasping due to the suffocating defense. When they returned the Bucks had not only erased the Thunder lead but built a 5 point lead of their own. DJ White in particular had difficulty closing out on shooters and allowed the Bucks to hit wide open shots. I would say mostly it was just a matchup problem for the Thunder, the Bucks went small and the Thunder just have too many injuries to play small the entire game right now.

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